Battle of Black Canyon
|partof = the NCR Arizona Offensive |image = |caption = |date = October 11th-14th, 2282 |place = Black Canyon Area, former Arizona |result = NCR Victory |combatant1 = New California Republic |combatant2 = Caesar's Legion |commander1 = President Aaron Kimball General Lee Oliver |commander2 = Marius of Phoenix Unknown Legion Officer |strength1 = NCR Defense Force |strength2 = Legion Military |casualties1 = Moderate *224 KIA |casualties2 = Heavy *792 KIA }} After the NCR Victory at the Siege of Sedona and Siege of Prescott, Caesar of the Legion Marius of Phoenix ordered the surviving forces to retreat south the Black Canyon area, the rugged terrain of which provided the last natural barrier between the Legion and the NCR forces advancing from the north. From September 2282 onward, the Legion had strengthened their position in the area considerably, building fortifications from local stone, intended to blend in with the environment to make them difficult to spot from Vertibirds, as well as moving as many pre-war vehicles and artillery recovered from military bases as possible. By October 11th, 2282, the stretch of Interstate 17 running through Black Canyon was covered by numerous artillery and machine gun nests and a few dug-in pre-war tanks, positioned so that they can support each other, and hidden among boulders and brush on the canyon walls and hillsides. The Legion fortifications were over 15 miles deep, ranging from Cordes Lake to Black Canyon City. Cordes Lake Area On October 11th, 2282, after artillery and aircraft had bombarded the area for three days previously, the NCR Army launched their assault on Cordes Lake, the First Armored Division advanced, supported by infantry, cavalry, and Brotherhood of Steel power armor units, advanced down US 69 from the northeast and I-17 from the north. By 01000 hours, NCR and allied forces encountered their first Legion resistance. While the pre-war town of Spring Valley was deserted, the low hills near the junction of US-69 and I-17 played host to the first line of Legion defenses. While these defenses suffered some damage from bombing and artillery, a number of Legion positions remained, including mortars and even a few pre-war howitzers, along with at least 100 infantry and several mounted machine gun nest. An NCR tanks, two APCs, and several lighter vehicles, as well 22 infantry and cavalry personnel were lost in the initial volley of fire. The infantry were pinned down by the heavy fire, and the cavalry were forced to retreat or dismount and take cover. NCR tanks and other vehicles returned fire with their heavy weapons, quickly knocking out many of the weapon positions on the lower side of the slope. Among the AFVs present in the assault were the two XM58 Self-Propelled Laser Weapons, placed on a hill slope to the north of the highway junction, where they could fire at Legion forces defending the junction. Within five minutes first engagement, all targets on the forward slopes of the hill were secured, however, Legion mortars on the reverse slope of the hillside, protected from direct fire weapons, remained intact and continued firing on the NCR troops. In order to neutralized this threat, NCR forward observers called for an artillery strike on the hill. The fire mission was carried out by a battery of the 1st Nellis Volunteer Artillery Company, a unit of 105mm howitzers and their crews provided by the residents of Nellis Air Force Base, commonly known as the "Boomers". The Legion mortars were hit with about 40 shells in a period of about one minute, effectively preventing the Legion mortars from firing. After the mortars were neutralized, NCR forces could advance up the hill, which in many places was gentle enough for tanks to drive directly up, supported by infantry. By 1035 hours, the hills over looking the highway junction, as well as the small group pre-war restaurants and gas stations at the junction itself, were under NCR control. At the same time as the assault on the hill line, NCR forces also attacked the pre-war town of Cordes Lake itself, advancing across the flat land north of the town, coming under fire from Legion defenses hidden in houses. A tank was knocked out by a howitzer hidden in a house, however, the NCR forces responded with several explosive shells, leveling the structure. By 1030 hours, the NCR forces had cleared the first row of houses. The pre-war houses of Cordes Lake were widely spaced and on a flat plain, with roughly parallel streets, making it easier for NCR armor to maneuver, supported by infantry. When any Legion heavy weapons positions that survived the artillery and artillery bombardment were taken out by NCR armor and handheld rocket launchers, the infantry would move in to root out any surviving Legionaries. By 1230 hours, the city was declared clear. At the same time, the NCR armor took the ruins of Cordes, a ghost town to the west of Cordes Lake, abandoned since the mid-20th century, as well as second line of ridges to the east of Cordes by 1230. At the same time, NCR forces advancing south from Cordes Lake of began exchanging fire with Legion defenses on top of a ridge south of the two. After about an exchange for fire lasting about 20 minutes, NCR armor and artillery located and destroyed all of the Legion heavy positions and made their way to the top of the ridge. By 1400 hours, the NCR had seized a third group of low hills south of Cordes Lake, near where the Agua Fria River enters Black Canyon, eliminating a third battery of Legion artillery and other defensive positions guarding Interstate 17. By this point, the NCR also held the crossing to Aqua Fria River, having cleared the comparatively light Legion defenses there. To the west, NCR forces reached the rim of the canyon of Turkey and Bumble Bee Creek. Here began to take heavy fire from Legion defenses on the other rim of the canyon. While the Legion gunner were inaccurate with indirect fire, not having the experience of their counterparts with the NCR or "The Boomers", they were still capable of effective direct fire from their concealed positions. The Legion guns in question included a variety of different scavenged weapons, including several 105mm light howitzers, a few 155mm heavy howitzers, numerous mortars, a few dismounted tank guns, and even three pre-war tanks placed in dug-in positions. The situation was made worse by the fact that the only way for NCR armor to go down into the canyon was to one pre-war dirt road, acting as a choke point. Two NCR tanks and several APCs were destroyed in the engagment, with 32 infantry lost. While air support, artillery, and tank guns eventually managed to gain the upper hand against the less numerous Legion heavy weapons, the position would not be taken until NCR cavalry maneuvered around the head of the canyon, before dismounting and fighting on foot through the rugged west rim of the canyon, rooting out an eliminating the concealed Legion positions one-by-one. It would not be until 1450 hours that NCR armor could finally be safely brought down into the west canyon. As the light faded around 1900 hours, the NCR forces taken the ghost towns of Cleator and Cordes Junction, as well as several old mining facilities dating back to 19th and 20th centuries, some of which were used as Legion artillery and mortar positions. Through the night, most NCR forces dug in, repulsing several small Legion counterattacks. At the same time, NCR First Recon and Ranger forces, equipped with night vision equipment- rare in the postwar period, launched attacks on Legion artillery and mortar firebases in the canyons and ridges south and west of Cleator, destroying several heavy howitzers, numerous mortars and 75mm pack howitzers, a large cache of ammunition, and killing dozens of Legion troops. Battle of Crown King At the same time as the NCR attack on Cordes Lake, the NCR military launched a smaller assault on the hamlet of Crown King, located in the southern Bradshaw Mountains, where the Legion had retreated after their defeat at the Siege of Prescott. The first NCR actions of the attack consisted of aerial bombardment of two major Legion artillery positions, a smaller position armed mostly with mortars and 75mm pack howitzers on Towers Mountain, guarding the dirt road leading north to Prescott, and a second heavier position at Horsethief Basin aimed at Interstate 17, armed with 155mm heavy howitzers, intended to shell any forces that attempted to travel up the road. The NCR Air Force F-80, which dropped a Mark 28 "mini-nuke" bomb on the concentration of Legion 155mm heavy artillery at Horsethief Basin. While the weapon was much smaller than any strategic nuclear weapon of the Great War, the Mark 28 still had a yield of ten tons of TNT, and completely obliterated everything within an area of several hundred meters. This was the first use of such as weapon during the NCR Arizona Offensive- the only previous uses of the weapon by the NCR Air Force had been against the Brotherhood of Steel. The Mark 28 attack was authorized by General Lee Oliver with the intent to demonstrate the power of NCR technology to the Legion on a target with no civilians in the area. While the Mark 28 was designed to have a minimal radiation output, the detonation cause a forest fire that burned a few thousand acres of surviving forest, a decision that resulted in General Oliver being criticized for the destroying the valuable timber. The position on Towers Mountain was hit by multiple aircraft armed with conventional bombs, including the B-29 Superfortress operated by the Nellis Volunteer Squadron, commonly referred to as the "Boomers", as well as artillery fire. After the bombardment had reduced much of the mountain to a cratered, treeless ruin, NCR and Brotherhood of Steel airborne forces attacked in Vertibirds and helicopters at 1320 hours on October 11th. The NCR and allied aircraft started taking small arms fire from the surviving Legion troops, however, they were quickly suppressed and eliminated by the better-armed airborne forces, supported by Vertibird and helicopter gunships. The aerial attacks were timed so that the mountaintop would be as NCR forces advancing down the dirt road from Prescott, consisting of a 200 cavalry and 300 mountain infantry, supported by three tanks and a few light vehicles, would be just outside the range of the guns on Towers Mountain. After getting that signal that the mountain was cleared, the troops continued their advance, managing to to their first target, a group of Legion positions of the slope of Towers Mountain, separating them from the 50 airborne troops on the summit. After the airborne forces took the summit of Towers Mountain and the upper ridge, NCR ground forces, including infantry and cavalry supported by armored vehicles advanced down the dirt road into Crown King. At 1412 hours, NCR forces engaged Legion forces defending a dispersed group of houses in the forests below Towers Mountain. These troops held up NCR forces until 1520 hours, as they cleared the area of snipers and other Legion troops hidden in the forests. At the same time, the actual hamlet of Crown King was easily taken, with the guns of the supporting armor, as well as infantry-held rockets easily clearing the Legion troops defending the town and forcing the Legion forces to flee deeper into the mountains. By 1800 hours, Crown King and the surrounding areas were declared secure, however, the relatively small NCR force holding the town would be periodically attacked by small Legion raiding parties for the next few months, though these attacks would become less frequent during the winter months. Sunset Point and the Aqua Fria Canyon On October 12th, 2282, the second day of the Battle of Black Canyon, the NCR offensive continued, with the primary targets being the mesatop positions at Sunset Point, along which I-17 ran, as well as the Agua Fria River and Bumblebee Creek Canyons. At 0700 hours, two NCR Air Force Cessna Atomic light planes, as well as two Vertibirds and four UH-1 helicopters attacked Legion positions on a ridge south of Badger Springs Wash with guns, rockets, and small bombs. This target was also bombarded by artillery and mortars until 0715 hours, at which point NCR tanks and infantry assaulted the position. The relatively flat mesatop leading up to the ridge was ideal terrain for armored forces. The NCR vehicles engaged in a roughly five minute firefight, quickly neutralizing the Legion positions with their heavier guns. By 0730 hours, the ridge was in NCR hands, with the loss of only two vehicles and 14 men, most killed when an M113 APC was hit by a Legion rocket. The of the 100 or so Legion troops on position, 63 were killed and the remainder captured. After taking the Badger Springs Ridge, the NCR armor advanced extremely quickly across the nearly perfectly flat mesatop, easily sweeping aside what little Legion resistance they encountered, until they reached a dry tributary of the Agua Fria River. On the east side of the mesa, the tributary had carved a canyon over 100 feet deep, though near the source of the canyon, it was only a 20-30 foot deep. While it could be crossed by armor on the east side, even with the Legion having blown up the pre-war bridges, it would nonetheless proved a difficult obstacle to overcome. The Legion had placed anti-tank rocket crews all along the canyon, below the line of site of the tanks crossing the mesatop. As soon as the armor neared the edge of the canyon. The rocket crews fired, taking out four tanks, mostly older M60s, as well as eight APCs. Most of the tanks could not depress their guns low enough to fire on the Legion infantry in the canyon, forcing them to retreat back and target the one location they could make it across, the very western end near the source- where the canyon was only a narrow wash, located along the pre-war Interstate itself, just north of a pre-war rest area. At this chokepoint, the Legion had placed anti-tank crews, machine gun and artillery positions, and even a the few pre-war tanks they could get a hold of in defensive positions, which the NCR and allied aerial and artillery bombardment had been only partially successful in eliminating. The positions were protected by breastworks made from local stone and chunks of concrete and steel from the destroyed bridges over the wash. The Legion also had mortars and howitzers located at and around the Sunset Point rest area zeroed on the target. NCR forces were forced to push back to about 150 meters of canyon and call in all available artillery and air support on the Legion fortifications. The chokepoint, as well as strong points further along the canyon were pounded by NCR artillery, and air forces dispatched from Sedona Airport, consisting of two Lockreed P-80 fighters and four Cessna Atomic light planes dropped napalm on the Legion position. While this attack finally burned out the stubborn Legion defenders, the attack caused a brush fire in the dry grass of the mesatop, which delayed further NCR advance for two hours while the flames burned themselves out. The firefight at the chokepoint, which would sometimes be referred to as the "Battle of the Grass Fire" was one of the most brutal in the battle, with 73 NCR infantry being killed, 124 wounded, and eight more vehicles destroyed. The Legion suffered over 300 dead, many in the artillery and napalm bombardment. After the "Battle of the Grassfire", NCR forces crossed the canyon and took the pre-war rest stop by 1100 hours. The NCR armored advance continued, reaching the southern tip of the mesa on the west side of the Agua Fria River by 1200 hours. Meanwhile, a smaller NCR force, consisting mostly of cavalry and armed pick-up trucks, with some armored vehicles in support had crossed the Aqua Fria River by 0800 hours and steadily advance across Perry Mesa, the mesa on the east side of the river, quickly clearing the much lighter Legion resistance by 1100 hours. At this point, NCR forces held the heights on both sides of the canyon, and could fire down on Legion infantry in the Agua Fria Canyon, however, in the end, NCR infantry were forced to root out the small bands of Legion forces hiding in the canyon before it could be secured by the end of the day. Bumble Bee Creek While their comrades to control the mesatop of Sunset Point and Perry Mesa, on October 12th, the eastern NCR force attacked Legion forces holding the canyon of Bumble Bee Creek and the foothills of the Bradshaw Mountains to the west. Following aerial and artillery bombardment, NCR armor advanced down the floor of Bumble Bee Creek canyon, quickly taking the ghost town of Bumble Bee with minimal resistance, before advancing beyond the abandoned town take the confluence of the Bumble Bee and Turkey Creek by 1000 hours. At this point, the NCR controlled the exit of the narrow Turkey Canyon, however, several Legion mortar positions were located along the side of the canyon. NCR infantry advanced west from Bumble Bee Canyon, ascending to the top of the first ridge. At this point, the NCR forces were fired on by Legion infantry in the canyon itself. A series of fire fights between Legion troops on the floor and opposite wall of Turkey Creek Canyon returned fire, suppressing the Legion mortars and infantry with machine gun, rocket, and grenade launcher fire, before advancing to Turkey Creek proper. At the same time, infantry, cavalry, and a few vehicles advanced down the forest road south for Cleator and north from Bumble Bee, using the firepower of the armor to clear particularly stubborn pockets of Legion resistance, while infantry and cavalry took and held the ridges above the creek. Sporadic engagements took place along the canyon for over two hours, before the canyon was declared clear by 1225 hours. During the afternoon of October 12th, NCR infantry engaged in a number of sporadic engagements in the mountains above Turkey Creek Canyon, pushing the Legion back into the higher elevations of the Bradshaw Mountains. Black Canyon City By the end of October 12th, 2282, NCR forces controlled mesatop overlooking Black Canyon City, as well as the Bradshaw Mountain foothills to the west. At this point, Legion positions in the city itself were heavily bombarded by artillery and aircraft, while NCR Rangers and First Recon infiltrated the Legion lines through the lightly defended Agua Fria Canyon, and sabotaged artillery and ammunition caches and assassinated multiple key targets, including two Legion Centurions. At 0810 hours on October 13th, NCR forces launched an attack down Interstate 17, spearheaded by tanks and armored vehicles. At the same time, smaller NCR armored and infantry forces advanced down the dirt roads from Bumble Bee Canyon, and NCR and Brotherhood of Steel airborne infantry advanced down the Agua Fria Canyon, supported by power armor and Vertibird and helicopter gunships. By 0900 hours, NCR armor had pushed out of the choke point of the Interstate, with a loss of only two APCs and a tank to Legion troops armed with rockets. At this point, the NCR armor and supporting infantry took the relatively light and spread out pre-war structures relatively easily. At the same time, the airborne infantry had cleared Legion forces from a group of mesas and hills near the entrance to the Agua Fria Canyon, as well as taken some of the eastern outskirts of the city, the power armor units and Vertibird gunships playing a similar support role to the vehicles in the western attack. As NCR and allied forces advanced into the city, they reached somewhat denser residential and commercial developments, though they were still quite widely spaced in comparison the urban areas encountered NCR forces on multiple previous battles, including Kingman, Flagstaff, Sedona, and Prescott. Legion resistance consisted mostly of small groups of Legion troops, many armed with heavy weapons, hidden in various structures. As in previous battles, the NCR limited armored losses by placing their most durable vehicles- M56 and M75 Main Battle Tanks, at he spearhead of the assault, using their heavy firepower to destroy the pre-war structures that held Legion positions. By the time NCR forces reached the two bridges over the Agua Fria River at 1030 hours and the eastern force reached an arroyo flowing into the Agua Fria from the south, the NCR had lost 21 troops KIA and another 22 wounded, with only two vehicles lost, though three tanks had their tracks damaged by Legion mines, though they were recoverable. Upon reaching the bridges, which the Legion had blown to deny the NCR access, the NCR and allied troops were briefly slowed by Legion troops with a high concentration of heavy weapons, including three 75mm pack howitzers and pair of 155mm guns firing directly as anti-tank guns, hidden in the buildings. The light pack howitzers proved capable of destroying APCs and IFVs, but their lightweight AP shells simply bounced off the armor of heavier NCR tanks, while the HE rounds detonated without doing any significant damage. The 155mm guns managed to knock out two tanks, however, the Legion positions only took out four light vehicles, two APCs, and two tanks before they were located and destroyed by tank guns, hand-held rocket launchers, and a rocket strike by a helicopter gunship. Once the guns were neutralized, the tanks and APCs were able to ford the Agua Fria River, which was less than three feet deep at the moment, though lighter vehicles were forced to wait until the NCR engineers constructed a bridge the next day. With the support of their armored forces, NCR troops met up the advance through Black Canyon City by 1145 hours, taking a small butte with a pre-war water tower on top, which the Legion had converted into a roadblock. After clearing the city, NCR troops advanced down Interstate 17 as far as the pre-war hamlet of Rock Springs, taking two mesatops on which the Legion had placed defenses by 1300 hours. Category:Battles Category:Events